During Number Corner this month our calendar has focused on different ways of measuring objects.
Each of the calendar markers features a measuring tool and an object being measured—an eraser placed next to a ruler; a small set and a larger set of pencils in a balance scale; flour in a tablespoon; a penguin standing on the ice beside a thermometer that shows the temperature as 24º F. The tools and the objects illustrate the attributes of length, weight, capacity, and temperature, and provide opportunities for students to make comparisons using words such as longer, shorter, heavier, lighter, etc.  We have also spent time talking about the measurable attributes of various objects in the classroom and made comparisons among objects with a measurable attribute in common.  A rock and a marker can both be weighed and the rock is heavier than the marker.   This has provided students with an introduction to the idea that objects can be measured in different ways and we use different tools depending on the attribute we are measuring.